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| VICTOR DOLOSTONE (MEMBER) FIDDLERS GREEN FORMATION |
| Eurypterid Gallery 7 Eurypterids.net |
| The Fiddlers Green Formation (Late Silurian Bertie Group), the primary eurypterid-bearing unit of upstate New York and Ontario, Canada, is amazingly widespread in occurrence and thickness (~25-30 feet). This is the sequence bearing the Eurypterus remipes Fauna known since the discovery of the first eurypterid specimen in 1818. Within the Fiddlers Green Fm. occurs a middle, massive member, the Victor Dolostone, the thickest member of the Fiddlers Green Fm. The unit is readily recognized from the Deck Ravine in eastern New York (east of Passage Gulf), west- ward far into Ontario, Canada. Lithologically, the Victor Dolostone consists of finely-crystalline rock with layer upon layer of brachiopod coquina and ostracodal beds with, locally, abundant eurypterid remains. Throughout its extent, microbialite beds are seen (thrombolites and stromatolites). |
| LEFT: Part of a slab characteristic of the Victor Dolostone in the Litchfield area of eastern New York. Ostracods and a few brachiopods are evident. Eurypterid remains preserved within this bed are preserved relatively un- crushed compared to occurrences in the overlying Phelps Waterlime. Often, Lingula and gastropods are found. Ripplemarks, burrows and other sedimentary structures are important within the Victor Dolostone of this region. A basal waterlime has not been noted in this area. Westward, the Morganville Waterlime becomes the basal member of the Fiddlers Green Formation throughout western New York. |
| MORE TO COME |
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| BELOW: Large slab of Victor Dolostone collected in Litchfield, New York. |
| Carapace: Eurypterus remipes --> |
| <-- GASTROPOD |
| <--ABUNDANT TRACE FOSSILS (BURROWS) |
| <--Lingula sp. |
| This large slab, fortuitously,bears many of the char- acteristics of the Victor Dolostone. The carapace is shown to the right and has at least one ostracod upon it. Note the gastropod, Lingula sp. and the many trace fossils. These are not generally observed in the fine-grained waterlime (Phelps) overlying this unit. These beds also include (low) domal stromatolites. The Victor Dolostone occurs westward across New York State into Ontario Canada, a distance of over 200 miles and maintaining a relatively uniform thickness. In the Phelps to Finger Lakes area, a basal and upper limestone makes its appearance allowing for a divi- sion of the Victor Dolostone into units A,B and C. The limestones are rich in brachiopods, although limited in number of species. |
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| The Lingula specimen on the large slab is shown to the right. Many broken-up fragments also occur on the slab indicating transportation of these shells - no in situ specimens of Lingula have been observed in any of the Bertie Group, eurypterid-bearing units. Lingula is distributed most commonly within the Williamsville Formation (Eurypterus lacustris Biozone). VICTOR DOLOSTONE (more to come) |